


alienated (literally)

by callingCujo



Category: Subnautica (Video Game), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, M/M, surprise bitch bet you thought you'd seen the last of me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 20:25:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14504817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callingCujo/pseuds/callingCujo
Summary: In which things don't always work out the way they're expected to, and the Aurora crash leads to more than just a survival mission.





	alienated (literally)

**Author's Note:**

> hey. comments fuel me.

The first thing Yuuga sees upon peeking his eyes open is a pair of red eyes staring back at him. For a moment he wonders if he’s dead, if he’s just died and gone on to a better life after the Aurora started to fall. And then Bakugou Katsuki starts to yell.

 

They’re stuck on a lifepod, the two of them. There are two water bottles, two nutrient blocks, two flares, and a survival knife. It’s not an optimal situation, Yuuga’s aware, but at the very least it’s preferable to being dead. It’d be better if Bakugou was at least a little bit willing to cooperate, but it seems he’s not the type.

They’ve been sitting in there for hours. Yuuga suggests that maybe it’d be beneficial to go for a swim. But Bakugou won’t listen. Bakugou says it’s dangerous, that it’d be stupid to go out there without knowing what lies in the ocean. Yuuga disagrees. It’s really their only chance at survival. Alterra isn’t going to send another ship, he knows that for sure. And he’s halfway through his nutrient block already, almost finished with his distilled water.

The thing that ends up pushing Bakugou to agree with Yuuga is a message on the communications system. Their pod is still broken down, but at least that works. A small beeping noise echoes throughout the room and nearly scares Yuuga out of his skin when he first hears it. The robotic voice of the lifepod’s AI fills the room. _“Playing pre-recorded distress message.”_

 _“Hello?”_ asks a voice that seems all-too-familiar. Yuuga sees the way it makes Bakugou tense up. _“A- Ah. This is Midoriya Izuku, a passenger on the ship. Um, if anyone is out there, I-- GAH!”_ A loud shriek. Yuuga wonders what the cause of it is. Aside from him, Bakugou clenches his fists. Yuuga has spoken to Midoriya once, to offer him food, but he knows that the red-eyed teen in the escape pod with him has a complicated relationship with the other. Of course he does. _“I- I’m being attacked. Please, if anyone can help--”_

The recording cuts off abruptly. Bakugou reaches forward to look at the time stamp on the distress call. One hour ago. Yuuga doesn’t want to believe what that might mean. Distantly, he hopes that someone else got the call earlier. He hopes another pod has already gone and rescued Midoriya Izuku. But he knows it’s unlikely. Somehow, the both of them know in the back of their minds that Midoriya is dead.

There’s little delay before Bakugou speaks up, his voice much lower than it had been before. Is he on the verge of crying? Yuuga can hardly tell.

“Let’s go,” he says, a scowl present on his features, and the purple-eyed frenchman can’t help but sit up. “We’re not gonna survive much longer in this shitty thing. Our fabricator’s still working, isn’t it? We just need to get some shit that came off of the ship when it crashed.” Oh, so now he’s on board with going out! Why, if this weren’t a matter of life and death, Yuuga might have something to say about Bakugou being so quick to change his mind. But as it stands, they’ve got to cooperate. There’s no other way to live. And if Bakugou won’t be the one who’s willing to listen, then Yuuga has no choice.

Bakugou is the one to take the knife. Naturally. Yuuga’s not the type to kill anything if he can help it, but he always took Bakugou for the kind of man who might be willing. Besides, he’s more built, better at defending himself. Until he has a stronger weapon, Yuuga is better off sticking behind Bakugou’s protection.

 

They find more than they might have thought. Aside from metal salvage from the ship (and from other lifepods, but Yuuga doesn’t want to think about what might have happened to their former inhabitants), there are also a few natural resources scattered among the shallow floor of the sea. Bakugou had busied himself with gathering salvage, so Yuuga has found it in himself to pick up small bits of titanium, salt, copper, and silver. Bakugou looks a little bit pleased with him, after seeing what he’s gathered in his arms.

They boot up the fabricator and open the panel to see what’s available with the resources they have. Bakugou converts his metal salvage into usable titanium, and Yuuga checks the scanner for things they might be able to make with nearby materials.

 

A while into their endeavor-- the two of them now have a scanner and a repair tool each-- the communications box beeps again. The robotic voice once more fills the pod as the two of them look over to it. _“Playing pre-recorded distress message.”_ And then, a voice that Yuuga recognizes instantly. _“This is Sero Hanta.”_ Dread pools in the pit of his stomach. He knows Sero. He’d been _dating_ Sero. The message was recorded about fifty minutes ago.

 _“Uh-- I’m here with Kaminari Denki. We’re both passengers, from Sector 1-A. I think we’re in the radiation zone. Kaminari’s not breathing, and I’m starting to feel dizzy.”_ He puts a hand over his mouth so he doesn’t cry. If he cries, he’ll probably lose hope. And it’ll make Bakugou mad. _“Point is, if there’s anyone out there, uh.. Maybe come for us? Yeah, that’d be nice.”_ He’s probably dead. Sero is probably dead. _“Bakugou, if you’re out there, Denki was talking about you. Says you’re probably surviving just fine. But, uh.. We got a message from Kirishima, a while back. I don’t think he made it.”_

Bakugou really does look to be on the verge of tears, now. His teeth are clenched, his hands balled into fists. _“And-- Yuuga?”_ He bites his lip. _“Who am I kidding, you’re probably just as dead as I’m gonna be. But, if you’re there.. I love you. Okay? I never got around to saying it. But I do. At least someone out there’ll know.”_ There’s a laugh. And then the recording ends.

Yuuga can’t hold it in anymore. He doesn’t know when he sunk to his knees, but then next he knows he’s curling in on himself, tears streaming down his cheeks. It’s jarring, knowing that the people he was just with hours ago are dead. He can’t help it. He cries and he cries until there are no tears left and Bakugou yells at him for dehydrating himself (but really he can tell that Bakugou’s eyes aren’t dry either).

Hours turn into days and they receive five new messages, but Yuuga doesn’t cry at any of these. They live off bladderfish, and peepers, and hoopfish-- anything that’s edible. And water is easy to filtrate. But there’s no permanent base for them, not yet. Yuuga knows of the unspoken hope they both share that a ship will come to rescue them.

But they have a mobile vehicle bay, now. And with that, they’ve made two seamoths.

Bakugou has acquired a signal that supposedly leads to an island; Yuuga is smart enough to know what that means for them. Dry land is their best hope at survival, after all. They take the seamoths and go as soon as the sun is up. Journeys like this are long, and Bakugou doesn’t talk to him much. The intercoms would allow it, but really he thinks conversation isn’t what the other wants. Besides, he doesn’t say much even outside of their journeys. He just barks at Yuuga to do things. It’s probably a coping mechanism.

Surprisingly, it doesn’t take much power to reach the island. The seamoths consume power much slower than the seaglides they’d previously been relying on, so it’s a relief that they don’t have to bring extra power cells with them.

The uneventful journey comes to its close when Bakugou gets out just before shore, prompting Yuuga to do the same.

“Oi. Go and see if there’s anything over there.” He points to the far side of the mountain. Yuuga nods-- what can he do but obey?-- and begins his trek away, not daring to spare a look at Bakugou. He’s always asking to be alone, asking Yuuga to be away from him. He wonders if he can help the red-eyed teen before he explodes from the metaphorical pressure. But those thoughts are keeping him tethered here, so he lets go of them and continues on his way.

Walking is almost hard, after so long of swimming. He’s hardly used to it at all. But he supposes it’s not worth complaining, and so for the duration of his trek across the island he doesn’t once turn back.

He doesn’t know how long it’s been when he finds something unusual. The sun is high on the sky and it beats down on him mockingly-- so similar to Earth’s own sun, yet so different. There’s a tablet-looking thing on the ground, with a purple inscription. He takes his scanner out and scans it, getting the apparent blueprints for the strange thing. Then he picks it up, resolving to look at the blueprints later.

A few meters more brings him to another one, half-buried. He picks it up, and upon looking straight ahead is greeted with a daunting sight. He’s never seen anything like it, actually. Cubic structures lined with intricate designs, and green glowing lights. Something alien. He points his scanner towards the wall-- it says nothing as to what the material is, only commenting on its structural integrity. Curious.

The noise of something moving a few meters away startles him. His head jerks around to face a panel he’d previously ignored, and he’s drawn in by a faint glow from it. is this a bad idea? Most definitely. Does he care? Not hardly.

Walking around to the front of the panel, he’s surprised to see the same inscription on the panel as there is on the tablets he’s just picked up. To himself, he thinks he really shouldn’t be doing this. But he’s never been the most logical person, and he sees no reason to fear this. Reaching into his small bag to retrieve one of the tablets, he eyes the large, shielded off doorway dead ahead. Perhaps this is a key, then? It’d make sense.

He lowers the tablet down and it fits into the slot with ease. Noiselessly, the forcefield protecting the structure from outsiders dissipates. So it was a key!

Here he regains his senses, digging out his PDA and using the intercom to try and talk to Bakugou.

“Bakugou-san,” he starts, “how long might it take you to make the trek over here?” There are a few seconds of silence before any response comes from his companion.

“Depends. What the fuck’s got you asking?” He sounds out of breath. Yuuga can’t help but wonder just why that is. Maybe he’s been doing some hiking? He just hopes it’s not because he was running from something.

He looks back up at the doorway. “I’ve found something interesting, _oui!_ It’s an alien base! You want to come and check it out, right?” Something akin to a growl sounds from the intercom. Yuuga’s really tempted to laugh at him.

“Shut the FUCK up and wait for me,” he demands, before the comms go silent. Yuuga really doesn’t fancy going in there alone, so he does as he’s told, sitting down against the panel and messing with his PDA, checking blueprints and data log’s he and Bakugou have acquired. Their data is synced, so he has no trouble accessing the new things his red-eyed companion has scanned on his journey!

He’s in the middle of looking over some food the other has scanned when he hears the telltale footsteps that signal Bakugou’s arrival. Eagerly, he pushes off the ground, glancing over at the angry teen. The expression on his face seems to be one of disgruntled anger, but as soon as his eyes meet the structure it morphs into what yuuga can only interpret as a determined grin. It’s almost frightening, but also sort of a relief, since he’s never seen that kind of expression on Bakugou before.

The two of them split up on their quest to explore the castle. Yuuga goes up, while Bakugou goes down-- though they’re separated, he can still hear the the other’s footsteps as he stalks through the halls. Yuuga is terrified, to tell the truth; instinctively, his arms move to hug himself tightly as he walks around.

The place is eerily empty, and that’s what throws him off the most. The fact that it’s an alien base doesn’t really scare him as much as the fact that there’s nobody there. Why isn’t anything there? He doesn’t really see anything that’d make them apprehensive about this place-- minus the hostile creatures. Did they leave because they were bored, or because they were running from something?

His PDA’s alert draws him out of his thoughts. Ah, right. he’s walking. _“Scans show that the control room is beyond that door.”_ He glances at the door in question. Another forcefield. It’s just lucky that he’d grabbed two of the keys! With much ado, he fits the second key into its slot and watches the forcefield door slowly dissipate.

The control room looks daunting, not because of its size but because of its contents. But Yuuga has told Bakugou he’d explore! There’s no way he can go back on that, not now. He takes hesitant steps forward; short, at first, but he grows more confident and ends up striding towards the device that lies at the other side of the room. The confidence lasts through his ascending the stairs and starts to sputter short as he’s reaching out for the button. He doesn’t even know what it does. But it must be something important if it was locked behind a forcefield!

His hand hovers over the button for a few seconds, but in the end his inability to _not touch things_ wins over his fear of consequence. In a burst of motivation, he presses the button.

For a moment, nothing happens. He begins to withdraw his hand when a mechanism practically shoots up and keeps it there. He sucks in a breath out of fear. He could die here, because he tried to press this button.

Another device seems to slither out of the opened hatch-- this one is more like a camera on a flexible support, moving around and examining him. He watches it as it moves, and has no time to react when a needle suddenly protrudes from the center of it. A split-second is all it takes for the machine to stab him in the arm, causing him to let out a cry.

As soon as he’s released from the machine, he grabs at the hole in his suit where he’d been stabbed. In the background, he hears footsteps, but he pays no mind. What had that button been for? His PDA supplies some answer in a robotic voice. _“Transmission detected. Translating unknown language.”_

He waits for a few seconds, still clutching at his arm. The silence that fills the room is broken only by the sound of Bakugou running towards him. He waits, and waits, and then finally, the PDA says something else, just as his companion makes it through the door.

_“Infected individuals may not deactivate the weapon.”_

Yuuga turns his head to face Bakugou, his wound bleeding out ever so slightly. “Ah! You have good timing. I think I might be infected with something.” His tone, perhaps, is far too cheerful for the news he’s conveying with it, but he knows if he stops smiling he’ll just be in pain, and Bakugou might yell at him.

“What the fuck?” the teen asks, and Yuuga realizes Bakugou is probably going to yell at him regardless. “What the hell did you do, Twilight Sparkle?” His eyes are locked on to Yuuga’s injury. He quickly hides said wound from view.

“There was a button,” he explains, “and I pressed it. I couldn’t help myself, you know! Having a button with no explanation is really quite tempting, isn’t it? I don’t know how--”

“Are you an _idiot?”_ Bakugou asks, and he’s positively seething. “You could have blown up the fucking planet! What’s _wrong_ with you?” Yuuga’s feeling a bit hurt. He hadn’t known it was so bad! He’d just been curious! “Come the fuck on. We’re going.”

Bakugou doesn’t waste any time in turning heel and leaving.

Later that night, after they’ve both scanned themselves and confirmed the presence of alien bacteria, Yuuga experiences his first nightmare on the planet. Bakugou holds him close as he sleeps, and they never mention it again.

 

Three weeks later they are fine. Well, no, three weeks later they both have green glowing welts everywhere that they pretend not to see, but they also know where to find the cure. They know they have time. Yuuga hasn’t been faring well, though. Physically he’s been as okay as possible, but mentally there is nothing much that can do him any good.

Bakugou has been getting angrier, lately. Yuuga’s not sure why. He hasn’t done anything to provoke the beast, and there’s not much besides the virus that could be making him angry. And he doesn’t seem too bothered by that. Besides, his anger is directed at Yuuga specifically. If he were angry in general, he’d take it out on whatever possible. But he doesn’t.

Yuuga is terrified of confrontation. He’d rather do anything than face his issues head-on, that’s true. But there’s not much else he can do. They have to work together if they want to live, and it’s hard for a pair to work together when one of them can’t stand the other. So on a day where they’re safely locked away in their Lost River base, Yuuga taps Bakugou on the shoulder.

He can’t even get out a polite ‘Excuse me’ before Bakugou’s turned around, permanent scowl even more prevalent than usual. “What the fuck do you want?” he asks. Yuuga flinches.

“I just want to know what I did,” he admits. “It’s not easy for me to be on the receiving end of your anger, you must understand.” Relief floods his body for only a moment before he catches the incredulous and pissed expression that Bakugou is sporting. That’s not good, he thinks. That’s not good at all.

Bakugou reaches forward and grabs him by the almost-collar on his radiation suit. “Listen, you fucking twink. I’m not exactly _pleased_ to be here with someone who doesn’t even fuckin’ look at me without cowering? You want me to calm down? Fine! Maybe after you consider manning the fuck up!”

Ah. It’s true that even now he’s scared. A part of him knows, of course, that it’s completely justified. But he’s not going to say something like that, not when curiosity outweighs his fear. “You don’t intend me to be intimidated by you?” he asks, head tilting to the side. “I thought you would rather I sit back and obey-- you seemed like someone who might--”

“I don’t give a _shit_ what I seemed like!” Bakugou yells, effectively cutting him off. “Grow a pair, why don’t you? How the hell is this supposed to work if you’re goddamn _scared_ of me?” Despite himself, Yuuga laughs. He laughs and laughs until bakugou gives him a weird look and lets him go. He can’t help himself.

“It was that simple, was it?” And maybe he doesn’t like loud noises, or the way Bakugou’s eyes flash with anger, but there’s a part of him that sees Bakugou really wasn’t trying to do anything bad to his mental state. “Okay, Bakugou. I’ll try not to fear your wrath too much in the future.”

 

 _Cured._ Something Yuuga never thought they might be, despite the fact that the antidote to the virus is oh-so-easy to reach. But the green fades from his skin and his expression mirror’s Bakugou’s-- shock and awe. The Sea Emperor hatchlings are sent to roam the ocean; they’re nicer than any creature Yuuga has ever met.

And now they have the rocket blueprints to worry about. They have to get back to Alterra. Hours after their cure, after they’ve deactivated the weapon, it’s all Bakugou can talk about. Yuuga halfheartedly tries to keep up, but there’s something that weighs on his mind like an anchor keeping him rooted to the same place (which really is ironic, considering what he’s thinking).

“Bakugou,” he starts, and his voice is soft, softer than it’s been in a long while. “I don’t want to go.”

The red-eyed teen stops in the middle of his explanation to stare at Yuuga with a look that can only be described with frustrated confusion.  Yuuga repeats, “I don’t want to go back to Alterra.”

“Why the hell not?”

“I like it here.” The admission slips from Yuuga’s lips as if it’s something to be ashamed of. “I like being free of bills or worries, and Alterra. And I like being here in the ocean with all of the beautiful views. I even like the leviathans.”

He can’t bring himself to make eye contact during the silence that follows. It’s not heavy, really, but more expectant. As if Bakugou expects him to say more. He doesn’t want to be the one to speak next, though, since he’s already said enough.

Bakugou breaks the silence after a while. “Then why the _hell_ am I even working on this stupid rocket, _huh_ ?” Yuuga blinks, gaze meeting Bakugou’s. He really hadn’t expected a response like that. “You think I’m all happy about going back, do you? Everyone I knew was on that goddamn stupid ship! And you know what? I thought _you_ wanted me to fucking leave, since you’re clearly so unhappy with being here with me.”

“I’m not!” he’s quick to reassure. “I’m not unhappy. I’m glad it was you who survived, because I doubt many others would have been strong enough to support themself and help support me, weak as I am.” He trails off in an awkward laugh. “I-- I don’t mind you, Bakugou. If you feel you need to leave, then by all means do so, but I rather dislike the prospect of being here alone.”

He’s hesitant in reaching out, in placing a hand on Bakugou’s shoulder. It’s hard to feel, but Yuuga is sure his companion is trembling slightly. His gaze finds the other’s face once more; he looks close to tears. Yuuga won’t blame him for that. He himself has cried more times than he can count. “Perhaps you wouldn’t have mattered to me had this not happened,” he starts, “but it did. And you do. Frightened as I used to be of your anger, I need you to survive here.”

“Please, if you want to stay, then stay.” It seems to have been the right thing to say. Tears stream down Bakugou’s cheeks now and he wonders for how long he’s been holding something like that up. Gently-- he always does things with the utmost care-- Yuuga pulls the other survivor into his arms and for a long while just holds him.

It’s going to be okay, then. He and Bakugou will stay here, on Planet 4546B.

 

Things have been going quite well indeed, since they’ve both decided not to leave. Expansions were made to their bases, and thanks to the Sea Emperor Leviathan who’s since passed away, the sea creatures don’t come close to bothering them. Everything is okay; it’s just them, the ocean, and the creatures that reside within it.

Today, Yuuga’s PDA tells him that on Earth, it would be Christmas Eve. He bets Bakugou’s received the same message, but Bakugou’s out right now-- and so he’s prepared a little surprise. Their fabricator is still the same one that they’ve used since the very beginning, and its reliability hasn’t gone down at all, as shown when it was able to make several strings of tinsel, and Christmas lights.

He’s labored for nearly half the day replicating Christmas decor for this special occasion. He can only hope that Bakugou will like it.

The telltale sound of the hatch opening doesn’t echo throughout the base until a few hours later, when it’s just starting to get dark. “In here!” he calls, flipping the switch to turn on the multicolored lights. Footsteps get louder as the other teen approaches, and Yuuga turns his head just in time to see Bakugou stop in his tracks.

There’s an unreadable expression on his face. Yuuga has always been able to read him, but not right now. “Aoyama,” he breathes, voice raspy. That’s the first time he’s called Yuuga by name, even if it’s not his first name. “What the fuck’s all of this.”

“Merry Christmas, Bakugou,” he responds. “Well-- it’s only Christmas Eve. But, I figured that doesn’t really matter. I thought it might be nice to have something to remember home by, since--”

“Oh, shut the fuck up.”

Bakugou surges forward and kisses him. It’s his first kiss and he has nothing to compare it to, but the one things he can say is that it feels right. It’s the right thing to do, at that moment. Yuuga positively melts into it-- things he didn’t even know he felt begin to surface and it’s all because of one kiss. Maybe he’s wanted this the whole time.

Yuuga is the one to pull away, but it’s a long while before he does at all. It’s this kiss, this moment, this instant that he’s thinking about. Not the future, not what might have been. It’s this. “Bakugou..” Yuuga manages, in his shocked state.

“Katsuki,” he corrects. “Don’t you dare keep callin’ me by my family name or I’ll fucking kill you.” And Yuuga lets loose a manic chuckle. “What the hell’s so funny?”

“I used to be scared of you,” he muses. “I used to think you might hurt me. Or get so mad that you’d leave me alone to die.” It’s funny to think, now. Not after the months they’ve spent together, just them two. “But really, you aren’t like that.” Katsuki scowls. Yuuga’s still smiling. “How long?” he asks, tilting his head to the side.

A flush furiously coats Katsuki’s face. he’s gotten a lot tanner, but that doesn’t mean the red is any less visible. “When we found out we were infected.” That’s all he gives as an answer, but Yuuga knows what he means, specifically. He remembers the warmth that had come from Katsuki, the kindness he’d showed when Yuuga had nightmares. “The hell does it matter?”

“You could have told me,” he replies, leaning in again to rest his head in the crook of Katsuki’s neck. “You should have.” His breath lightly blows against Katsuki’s skin-- he can tell because it comes right back at him.  
“You were fuckin’ terrified of me, jackass. Didn’t think you’d take it well.” His hands reach up to thread through Yuuga’s hair-- it’s kept clean, thank goodness, by supplies they’ve made. “S’not like I could have avoided it forever. We’re kind of the only people here.”

He gives a hum of acknowledgment. That’s right, he supposes. Maybe that’s why Katsuki had been so mad, back then. “You’re kind of a terrifying person.” Well that disrupts the mood. Katsuki jerks away and starts to yell at him, and all he does is laugh.

 

“What are you doing, Katsuki?” he asks, hands wrapping around his boyfriend’s waist as he works intently at the fabricator. “Planning on exploring even more? It’s a whole planet to ourselves, after all, we probably haven’t even scratched the surface of where we can go.”

“You gonna come with, then?” he retorts, not sparing a glance backwards. Yuuga can’t help but pout. “I’m wounded! You think I won’t come! I couldn’t stand to be away from you, darling.” He idly fidgets with his hands for a while, pressed up against Katsuki’s back. “I’ve been working on making things less dreary, you know.”

Katsuki huffs out a laugh. “That so?” It draws a short whine out of the purple-eyed survivor. “Knowing you, it’s all probably covered in glitter ‘n shit.” His protests are even more adamant.

“Katsuki! I have taste, you know! Not everything goes with glitter!” The other’s hands stop with what they’re working on for just a moment to intertwine themselves with Yuuga’s. “I think you’d like it if you came to see. I was down at the Bulb Zone--”

“-- And here you’re sayin’ you can’t stand to be away from me--”

“Let me finish! I was at the Bulb Zone, and did you know that the Ampeels give off a different kind of power than what we’ve recorded before? I’d go as far as saying it’s self-generated. Anyways, I managed to harvest some from a few that had been attacked, and it gives off the most wonderful light..” He trails off. Yuuga hadn’t arrived here the smartest, but he’d soon found a happiness in observing and studying the creatures of the planet. Katsuki’s told him it’s nerdy.

“You coulda used it to power a base or somethin’. You’re using it for light?” Katsuki sounds unimpressed, but Yuuga can’t see what his expression is and thereby can’t really read him. “‘Course. What is it you keep goin’ on about? _Aesthetics._ ”

“They’re important!” he defends, freeing his hands from katsuki’s grip so he can stand by his lover’s side. “I think we might go crazy without an atmosphere that’s more calming than what the builders can provide, don’t you agree?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Katsuki grumbles, and Yuuga steals a small peck to his cheek.

 

It’s late. Not that they really have any defined sleeping schedules here, since there’s no reason for them, but the two of them have been awake longer than either of them would have liked to be. This solace of lying in bed is something they don’t get often; it’s always quite busy, what with their spread-out bases and Yuuga’s need to investigate everything.

They aren’t asleep, but the lights are turned off and Yuuga is cuddled up close to Katsuki, the latter running his hands through the former’s hair in an almost soothing rhythm. Yuuga gives a content hum, a one-note monotone that rings through the room for a few seconds, before asking a question.

“Do you ever forget about Alterra?” he asks, gaze shifting up so he meets Katsuki’s eyes. “I sometimes forget that we come from there. That the Aurora was ever a functioning ship.” Mostly they use it for metal salvage, now. “I forget the people.” He barely remembers anyone. His mom. His father. Sero Hanta. “Don’t you?”

Katsuki’s laugh comes out more of a one-syllable huff. “Do I? Goddamn, I barely remember Alterra at all. Fuck that corporation.” At least they probably wouldn’t be coming back here. He couldn’t bear to imagine just how much money they’d owe if it was figured out their small presence in the sea had been built off Alterra resources. “PDA keeps saying we owe them.”

Yuuga really can’t help but giggle. They don’t owe Alterra anything. There’s no reason to pay, not when they won’t be returning. Even if another ship comes, the ecosystem won’t be so kind to them. It’s only because Yuuga and Katsuki saved the planet that the former ‘ruler’ of the planet had issued the order for them not to be attacked. “I’d throw mine out, were it not so useful.”

“It’s made me so frustrated I’ve got damn near close to chucking it down the crater edge,” Katsuki grumbles, which only serves to make Yuuga’s small giggle resurface. “It’s annoying! I don’t need to know how much I’ve fucking swam today.”

They fall into silence after that. Yuuga leans up and places small kisses on Katsuki’s neck, trailing up to his jaw, and then his cheek. Katsuki doesn’t let him stall anymore after that, turning his head so their lips meet for just a few fleeting seconds.

Yuuga, as usual, pulls away first. “Katsuki?” he asks, fondness lining his voice. “I love you.”

Even in darkness he can see the other’s incredulous stare as he sputters for words. “Jackass! Don’t surprise me like that, you piece of shit!” Anxiety starts to creep in. Had that been too soon? But then Katsuki responds with a quiet, “Love you too, Yuuga.”

And though they are just two humans in a small base on an alien planet, and their space in the universe is hardly significant at all, Yuuga feels like the most important person to have ever lived.

**Author's Note:**

> im like the aoyama cryptid writer because im not in the discord or anything and i dont talk about him on other media but Here I Give Him All My Love


End file.
